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Military 1, Democracy 0
Memogate indicates that while civilians have to prove their patriotism, the military remains unquestioned.
The writer is a correspondent for The Friday Times
The memogate scandal — which had been brewing for some time and went viral with Mansoor Ijaz publically naming Husain Haqqani, the Pakistani ambassador to Washington — might as well have been the equivalent of the Lawyers Movement and Lal Masjid combined for the PPP-led democratically-elected government. While there are lots of questions which need answers, the issue seems to have been blown out of proportion by obvious actors who wanted to capitalise on the situation and undermine and hijack certain aspects of democracy. After speaking to various stakeholders including the Americans, Mansoor Ijaz and even security personnel, I am convinced that Husain Haqqani indeed wrote that controversial memo. However, before passing judgment, one needs to understand very dispassionately that this particular memo was written just after US-Pakistan relations were at their lowest point post the OBL assassination and that this is not the first memo ever written by a Pakistani to the US.
A detailed look at the memo reveals nothing shocking and, in fact, it appears that it was a desperate attempt to save US-Pakistan relations and establish a new social contract between the two countries which went terribly wrong. Interestingly, points one and two in the memo promised to form an independent committee — like the 9/11 commission — to probe the OBL fiasco, which incidentally was implemented with the approval of the military. The second point said: “It is certain that the OBL commission will result in immediate termination of active service officers in the appropriate government offices and agencies found responsible for complicity in assisting OBL” — a valid promise which is indeed also in the interests of the Pakistani military, as the military itself had been trying to purge the force from radicals within. Point three talked about establishing a “new national security team” and allowing US personnel to carry out raids and handing over al Qaeda members and other fugitives, something which the military had been doing since 9/11 by allowing drone attacks and joint raids (such as the one that led to the arrest of Mullah Baradar in Karachi). The fourth point, which was widely criticised, said that “the new national security team is prepared with full backing of the Pakistani government — initially civilian but eventually all three powers centres — to develop an acceptable framework of discipline for the nuclear programme”. Calls for bringing the nuclear assets under “a more verifiable, transparent regime” one widely misunderstood since General (r) Khalid Kidwai had been in charge of the command and control authority and the memo was reflecting a deep fear of potential stealth raids on the country’s nuclear assets. Compare this to General Pervez Musharraf who had transformed the nuclear command and control authority to please a foreign power. Or Dr AQ Khan who was involved in the proliferation of our strategic weapons for financial gain? Husain Haqqani comes across as a saint and a small fry.
Point five was about eliminating the ISI’s S section, something which needs to be discussed and debated. Finally, the last point talked about “bringing all perpetrators of Pakistani origin to account for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, whether outside government or inside any part of government including it’s intelligence agencies”. This, too, would seem to be a legitimate point which the Pakistani government has always advocated.
Finally, one should understand that this particular memo had been the first one drafted by a civilian, as all such drafts had previously been prepared by uniformed officers, and this obviously didn’t go down well with the military — and perhaps that explains its reaction. Husain Haqqani expectedly resigned on November 22 but he will remain a living martyr for democracy. Sherry Rehman’s appointment as the new ambassador shows that President Zardari and the PPP will remain in government, but the memogate scandal itself is indicative of how civilians have to prove their loyalty to this country every day, while uniformed soldiers not only remain unquestioned, but wear badges of patriotism.
Military 1, Democracy 0.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2011.
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, memogate
Reader Comments (33)
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nice joke :)
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Well scripted n good attempt by Ali. I would say the timing of memogate was not appropriate. It was time when govt n Army were trying to reduce confusions. There is absolutely no doubt Zardari regime is consistently under pressure of coups but it might have been tackled well instead of drafting this memo.Recommend
A slap on the faces of pakistanis who believe in democracy… I can understand how humiliating it must be for you guys…Recommend
If democracy means ” to Sell our nuclear arms security, national armed forces and intelligence agencies control to America “, then
By God, I prefer military over democracy.
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Final Score should be : Military :1, Democracy : 0, Pakistan : -1.
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This article is absolutely atrocious. Establishment does what is best for Pakistan and i am not kidding.
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I am glad someone finally wrote it. Truth and nothing but the truth – thanks Ali K.Chishti for writing this piece knowing gharat brigade! :)Recommend
Keep bashing Pakistan security forces for every thing, nothing new from ET. Keep going …
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Your argument is flawed; by writing the memo, Haqqani has severely discredited the civilian government. The problem is that our Ambassador in US is not authorized to write a memo. It’s a bureaucratic post. I would have had little problem if Prime Minister had written the memo in consultation with the Cabinet.
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These psuedo democrats journos (trying to act like politicians) who can’t even call a spade a spade and have been trying to convert a wrong into a right. Such people have always misguided PPP leadership. A long way for democracy to go…and the learning through such mistakes rather blunders.
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ET and desi liberals have an agenda of their own
We the people of Pakistan support our institutions and militaryRecommend
When the civilians in question are the likes of Zardari, Rehman Malik, Gilani, Baber Awan etc then yes, they need to prove their patriotism a 100 times over. Come to think of it, even that may not be enough.
On the other hand, even though the agenda presented in the memo may sound like it is in Pakistan’s best interest, the whole text of the memo makes it perfectly clear that the current political govt was solely trying to protect itself by offering to effectively put Pakistan under complete American control.
The army can be accused of being complicit in the drone campaign however we also know that the army has also pursued its own agenda which (rightly or wrongly) it considered to be in Pakistan’s best interest. Their policies can be argued over, however i doubt if anyone will question their intent. Zardari and Co do not enjoy that faith by the Pakistani people. Infact, we believe they’ll sell Pakistan in a heartbeat if it means personal gains for them and their cronies.
Let me ask a simple question: If one wishes to reduce army’s influence in state business, why not try and work for the people, build support for your cause, build trust and goodwill and eventually have enough popular support that army has no choice but to back off ? Case in point: Turkey. However if you choose to go begging to foreign powers to undermine your security establishment, your strategic weapons and your defense institutions, then the people have every right to question your intent and sincerity of purpose.
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The final score is; Democracy 0, Military 1111.
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Army is enjoying ‘Cloud-9′ ride with no resposibility and a lot of fun. As long as ‘Coup- dagger’ is there to keep Democratic Forces paranoid, nobody dear beat the owners of patriotism.
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When will liberal fascists learn the difference between treason and civilian supermacy? If civilian supremacy equals handing over control of the nation to the US then I’m with the military.
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Military is the holy cow, lost all wars, can’t even protect their country against mass murderers hiding in our cities, but still want no accountability and giant share of our total budget. They are only good at maintaining status quo, running DHA’s and shadi halls. For them we are just, ‘Bloody Civilians’.
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Dictatorship was much better than this democracy and you know it
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Actually it is Military 1, Democracy- Not playing.
I am sorry, Democracy minus Civilian supremacy is not at all Democracy in my book.
The present system is a bloody good one from the military perspective. It pushes the responsibility of all the governing issues to the Civilians yet can control them whenever they want.
Pakistan, I am afraid, will never be truly a Democracy like an India or the US.Recommend
Most of the commenters of this site seem to clamoring for Military rule. Looks like we all have lost our mind totally. If this is the reflection of the english-speaking ‘supposedly’ educated society, then what can you say about the less-educated people? A society that loves dictatorships – the whole world are laughing at us.
A society which so loves mushroom clouds and army generals has no future whatever.Recommend
nice article ali good work.
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Why can’t we respect guys like Ali who knowing the current situation brings alternate views with rationale?Recommend
‘civilians have to prove their loyalty to this country every day, while uniformed soldiers not only remain unquestioned, but wear badges of patriotism’. What a better way to end the truth.
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In coming elections, those who wants a military rule should not vote, this will show where the country is heading.
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I second with A Ali. It really is ‘A JOKE’. Mr Ali if you trying to prove here is that such memos should not be the concern when we have more serious matters at hand like energy crisis, inflation etc, then I am a very happy man albeit you should have made a mention of it in the end. But if you are taking side of the deMOCKracy then sorry to say you are not being objective here. Even if a dozen memos are written and not being fingered upon is because things were running pretty smoothly or at least nearer.Recommend
If, as the author very rightly sums up that: “the Memogate scandal itself is indicative of how civilians have to prove their loyalty to this country every day, while uniformed soldiers not only remain unquestioned, but wear badges of patriotism.” then his conclusion
“Military 1, Democracy 0.” does not reflect the right score.
Keeping in view the 4 martial laws, 1965 Operation Gibraltar, 1971 Bangladesh war, Operation Black Horse, Ojhri disaster, Mehran Bank scandal, Operation Midnight Jackals, 4 dismissals/aborted tenures of BB+NS, Kargil, Abbottabad and Mehran Base raids that readily come to mind, the score should read something like:
Military 17, Democracy 0. And who knows it may not even be half-time yet.
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Those who think the memo intended to “sell” our nuclear assets (I prefer to call them our nuclear liabilities) should read that section again. Surely, it is not so difficult to understand?
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@meekal sb…surely you are overestimating the powers of reading and comprehension possessed by the supporters of the deep state.
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Military Always win in his country!
I WISH someday Democracy wins!!!
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With so many comments worshipping the military, I think that a section of the Pakistani people in general are not meant for self-rule. I mean ordinary citizen prefers a king or a badshah who will lord over them. The idea that ordinary people can be their own masters (through their elected representatives who they can remove) is alien to so may Pakistanis. Why is it so? I am sure the religion does not breed a slave mentality, it is the most egalitarian one. Is it the feudal culture or just the lack of confidence?
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Now I am convinced that there is a serious problem in We, Muslims.
I noticed above in some comments, people are in favour of Military rule over Democracy.
This problem seems more or less common in all Islamic countries.
I hope Allah one day will ignite the Rational minds of muslims.
I hope Muslims will live as prosperous as people of developed countries.
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this is not analysis. this is a farce. what foreign power did president musharraf please by setting up a command and control authority? and if he did so, he certainly did pakistan a huge favor, because had he not done so, pakistans nukes would have been sitting at a base in the US today. lets keep this polemic against him low. he’s been gone for 3 years.
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@Misbah (Delhi):
Its better to focus on your issues instead of having close eyes on us. There are still big challenges for India like poverty and corruption.Recommend
@aamir_khan82:
You want to know why we want to focus on your country?
Soon, your country is going to implode from within very shortly and all your country men who cannot afford immigration lawyers will be standing in a big line in front of Wagah border. That worries us so much.
When my neighbor’s house is on fire, I naturally would like to see what steps he is taking to put out the fire. It should worry me, shouldn’t it?
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